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The head of the World Health Organization warned that the rush to spread additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to rich countries was deepening. access inequality to owners who are prolonging the pandemic.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed on Wednesday that maintaining priority should be given to vaccinating vulnerable people everywhere rather than giving additional doses to those already vaccinated.
“No country can push the way out of the pandemic,” he told reporters.
The UN Health Agency has long denounced the significant difference in access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The continued proliferation of COVID-19 in some places significantly increases the chances of new and more dangerous variants appearing, he says.
“Blanket booster programs will prolong the pandemic, instead of ending it, by diverting supplies to countries with already high vaccination coverage, giving them more opportunities to spread and mutate the virus,” Tedros told reporters.
He said the priority should be to reduce deaths and help all countries meet the minimum vaccination targets that have not yet been achieved. And he noted that “the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not in uninsured people.”
A month ago, Tedros called him in vain booster dose moratorium healthy people with the vaccine until at least 40 percent of people in all countries receive their first stroke.
He noted on Wednesday that this year, people around the world have been vaccinated enough to achieve this goal, which means that distortions in global supply have only affected half of the world’s countries.
According to the UN, about 67 per cent of people in high-income countries have had at least one dose of the vaccine, but not even 10 per cent in low-income countries.
“It’s really hard to understand how three out of four African health workers remain unvaccinated a year after the first vaccinations were given,” Tedros said.
Tedros renewed the call for manufacturers and other countries to prioritize the COVAX program to get doses to the poorest nations and “help those who are lagging behind to work together.”
“If we don’t vaccinate the whole world … I don’t think we’re going to end this pandemic,” Tedros said.
But he added that the authorities now know the virus better and have effective tools to deal with it; “We need to add to that comprehensive implementation and equity, and we look forward to ending this pandemic by 2022.”
Omicron in 106 countries
His comments were on the Omicron variant lightning strikes it cut off hope that the worst pandemic in the world has ended since it was detected in South Africa last month.
The new variant is spreading at an unprecedented rate and has already been detected in 106 countries, the WHO said.
Early data indicated that, before peer review, it could have been better avoiding some vaccine protections, encouraging the rush to deliver boosters.
But Tedros stressed on Wednesday that “the vaccines we have continue to be effective against Delta and Omicron variants.”
“It’s important to remember that the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not uninspired people,” he said.
The WHO’s Strategic Expert Advisory Group on Immunization (SAGE) also warned against blanket strengthening programs on Wednesday, stressing that additional doses should be “targeted at the population at greatest risk of serious illness and those needed to protect the health system.”
To date, 120 countries have begun implementing programs to administer vaccines or supplemental doses, but none of them was a low-income country.
“Very difficult decisions”
As the number of cases rises, the UN health agency has also called on countries and individuals to take all necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus during the Christmas holidays.
“Boosters can’t be seen as a ticket to progress with the planned celebrations,” Tedros said.
Maria Van Kerkhov, head of the WHO COVID pandemic, stressed that people now know what to do, from wearing masks to physical detachment.
But he acknowledged the frustration of changing holiday plans.
“We have to make very difficult decisions to make sure we keep ourselves safe,” he said.
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